The Women Behind the Scenes, from Biblical Times Until Now

We are indebted to Rabbi Carole Balin, Ph.D., for her beautiful article regarding Belle Fligelman Winestine, z”l, and her activism for women’s suffrage. I can think of no more fitting way time to salute another amazing Jewish woman who, though probably less well known, nevertheless represents the entire century that has passed since women’s suffrage became a reality. 

That woman is my mother-in-law, Rayna Frank Goodman, who was born on September 15, 1920, one month after the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution was passed. 

This August, American women everywhere will celebrate the centenary of women’s suffrage. One month later, God willing, the Goodman family will also celebrate Rayna’s 100th birthday.

Rayna grew up in St. Paul, MN, where she and her family belonged to Mount Zion Temple. She cannot really be described as an “activist” in the way that Belle Fligelman Winestine was – but activism does not only exist on the front lines of public advocacy. It also exists in the steady, ongoing commitment to the synagogue, the family, and the welfare of the community at large. That has been the substance of Rayna’s activism, as representative of so many Jewish women, which has undergirded and promoted Reform Judaism throughout the past century. 

She married Alfred Goodman while he was studying for the rabbinate at the Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. After Alfred was ordained and served a stint in the Army Chaplaincy, Alfred and Rayna and their two sons (their daughter was born later) moved down to Columbus, GA, where Alfred would serve the historic Temple Israel for the next 33 years. 

All through the 1950s and ’60s, Columbus was engulfed in the civil rights movement of the Deep South. At the beginning of the 20th century, Columbus was known as “the lynching mecca of the South.” But in the prophetic tradition that he had learned from his beloved teacher Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, z”l, Alfred was determined to change that dynamic.

Together with his Christian colleagues, he founded the ministerial alliance that worked to ease the tensions brought about by desegregation. Alfred’s soaring oratory and fearless leadership helped to transform the culture of Columbus from a “lynching mecca” to a cultural mecca, yet still within the quiet pace of life in Georgia. Although I only met the Goodmans in the spring of 1980, when my now-husband Steve and I became engaged, I quickly understood that all that Alfred accomplished in the rabbinate, and within the community, would not have been possible without Rayna. 

In her humility, she herself might blanch at this assessment. But it is the truth, and I am so proud of her, and all she has accomplished in her life. She was at Alfred’s side as his helpmate and mother to their three children, supporting every one of his stands in the congregation and the community, editing his sermons, and giving refuge to the local Presbyterian minister’s children after he was dismissed by his church because of his work with Alfred in promoting desegregation.

Rayna worked throughout her life until retiring from her position as the library teacher at the Bealewood Elementary School of Columbus. She served as secretary of the Jewish Ladies Aid Society of Temple Israel (the synagogue’s sisterhood) and went on to serve on the national board of the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods (now Women of Reform Judaism). 

Rayna stepped down from the presidency of JLAS two years ago, but she still bakes 20 cheesecakes for the annual Temple Israel “Deli Day,” whose proceeds are divided between JLAS and the local food bank. One of the most literate people I have ever met, Rayna belongs to the Riverside Readers, a book group for which she makes regular presentations; her most recent one this, past year, was on Queen Elizabeth II. She served as President of the Century Club, also a literary club, and was a founding member of the Columbus Symphony Women’s Association; in fact, she played violin in the orchestra before it turned professional. 

She helped to manage a substantial endowment given to the temple and the community by the Schwob family of Columbus, and every year (including this one) Rayna has accompanied the family Hanukkah blessings on the piano. And yes, Rayna still drives her car, but she has recently limited herself to the few blocks between her home, the grocery store, and Temple Israel. She listens to the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts every Saturday afternoon and is an avid fan of golf and football.

Our Torah portion, Parashat Naso II, records the completion of the Tent of Meeting in the Wilderness; where, under the supervision of Moses, the chieftains of the tribes bring the offerings of the people (Numbers 7:10-89, from The Torah: A Women’s Commentary). These chieftains, of course, we're all men, recorded in the census that counted only men. 

If I may, I suspect we can be certain that the offerings would not have been adequately compiled without the women of Israel heavily participating in the effort. 

Rayna Goodman’s name may not be recorded in national histories of women’s suffrage, and yes, even models for clergy spouses have continued to evolve over these many years. But in a multitude of ways, it was because of Rayna and her contemporaries that Jewish life in the U.S. has grown and flourished throughout the century that has passed since women first won the right to vote. 

Together, they have made it possible for the more publicly recognizable activists in our community to act. These outstanding women have merited all the kavod (honor and respect) we can accord them. May we, and those who come after us, continue to stand on their shoulders.

For a fuller background on Columbus, GA, and Jewish life in the Deep South during the Civil Rights Movement, please see To Stand Aside or Stand Alone: Southern Reform Rabbis and the Civil Rights Movement, by P. Allen Krause, edited by Mark K. Bauman and Stephen Krause (University of Alabama Press, 2016). 

Rabbi Linda Henry Goodman is the rabbi emerita of Union Temple of Brooklyn in Brooklyn, N.Y.

This article originally appeared at ReformJudaism.org